Publications

The current energy model based on fossil fuels is coming to an end due to the increase in global energy demand. Biofuels such as ethanol and butanol can be produced through the syngas fermentation by acetogenic bacteria. The present work hypothesizes that formate addition would positively impact kinetic parameters for growth and alcohol production in Clostridium ljungdahlii PETC and Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 by diminishing the need for ...

The presence and genetic diversity of Clostridium difficile and C. perfringens along the slaughtering process of pigs reared in a free-range system was assessed. A total of 270 samples from trucks, lairage, slaughter line and quartering were analyzed, and recovered isolates were toxinotyped and genotyped. C. difficile and C. perfringens were retrieved from 14.4% and 12.6% of samples, respectively. The highest percentage of positive samples for ...

Necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens is associated with netB positive Clostridium perfringens type A strains. Single strain dominance is found in the gut of broiler chickens suffering from necrotic enteritis: within an outbreak, all affected animals usually carry the same clonal Clostridium perfringens strain in the affected tissue while clinically healthy chickens can carry different Clostridium perfringens clones in their intestine. It is ...

Necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens is associated with netB positive Clostridium perfringens type A strains. Single strain dominance is found in the gut of broiler chickens suffering from necrotic enteritis: within an outbreak, all affected animals usually carry the same clonal Clostridium perfringens strain in the affected tissue while clinically healthy chickens can carry different Clostridium perfringens clones in their intestine. It is ...

A microbial community is engaged in a complex economy of cooperation and competition for carbon and energy. In engineered systems such as anaerobic digestion and fermentation, these relationships are exploited for conversion of a broad range of substrates into products, such as biogas, ethanol, and carboxylic acids. Medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), for example, hexanoic acid, are valuable, energy dense microbial fermentation products, however, ...

Three fermentations in skim milk were used to study the effectiveness of the bacteriocin-producing Streptococcus macedonicus ACA-DC 198 strain to inhibit Clostridium tyrobutyricum LMG 1285T spore outgrowth under conditions prevailing during Kasseri cheese production and ripening. In fermentation A, Clostridium spores were used solely; in fermentation B, S. macedonicus ACA-DC 198 and Clostridium spores were used; in fermentation C, a commercial ...

Four selected butyrate-producing colon bacterial strains belonging to Clostridium cluster IV (Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum DSM 23266T and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii DSM 17677T) and XIVa (Eubacterium hallii DSM 17630 and Eubacterium rectale CIP 105953T) were studied as to their capacity to degrade inulin-type fructans and concomitant metabolite production. Cultivation of these strains was performed in bottles and fermentors containing a ...

Spores of some species of the strictly anaerobic bacteria Clostridium naturally target and partially lyse the hypoxic cores of tumors, which tend to be refractory to conventional therapies. The anti-tumor effect can be augmented by engineering strains to convert a non-toxic prodrug into a cytotoxic drug specifically at the tumor site by expressing a prodrug-converting enzyme (PCE). Safe doses of the favored prodrug CB1954 lead to peak ...

Both mycotoxin contamination of feed and Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis have an increasing global economic impact on poultry production. Especially the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common feed contaminant. This study aimed at examining the predisposing effect of DON on the development of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. An experimental Clostridium perfringens infection study revealed that DON, at a ...